As the Global DPI Summit approaches, hosted by South Africa this year, which also holds the G20 Presidency, attention is turning to how Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) can drive inclusive growth. Africa has long been at the forefront of digital innovation, particularly in mobile money and digital payments. Digitalisation offers a viable and promising pathway forward, as DPI could fundamentally transform how governments identify, register, and interact with taxpayers. As cuts to development aid increase and debt soars, domestic revenue mobilisation is even more crucial to fund growth, but with tax-to-GDP ratios stuck at an average of 15%, there is an urgent need for reform.
Last month, I attended the 10th annual African Tax Research Network (ATRN) conference in Cape Town, South Africa. Among the many topics discussed, the question of digitalisation emerged as particularly crucial for the tax era of development. While in some advanced economies, DPI works as an invisible scaffolding that makes it possible to deliver digital services at scale. In developing countries, however, that invisibility depends on creating visible building blocks. To provide economic opportunities efficiently and to deliver social services, countries first need solid foundations such as reliable digital IDs, accessible payment systems, and clear rules for data sharing. The conference focused on how to achieve these foundations and what progress has been made.
Knowing who citizens are is crucial for the modern state, particularly for taxation, yet it remains a significant challenge for many African countries. Fabrizio Santoro, research fellow at ICTD, shared Ghana’s experience integrating the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) with the National Identification Authority (NIA). This integration enabled the use of digital ID data to enhance tax registration, dramatically reducing duplicate records while enabling pre-filling of registration forms and real-time identity verification. The impact of the reform has been tangible: taxpayer registrations have surged, particularly among women, young people, and citizens outside Accra who had previously remained invisible to the tax system. These results reinforce our overall findings at ICTD through the DIGITAX programme, where we analysed the impact of the digitalisation of tax systems all over the continent. Ghana’s example illustrates how integrating foundational DPI components can directly improve administration, inclusion and equity.
During the ICTD Masterclass, a 2-hour session on the potential of DPI for taxation with around 50 participants, countries shared a range of promising experiences. Mauritius and Madagascar, for instance, have made notable progress in strengthening citizen identification. Nevertheless, as several participants pointed out, registering taxpayers does not necessarily translate into collecting taxes. DPI can bring people into the net, but without effective enforcement and taxpayer support, the impact on tax revenues can be limited.
The class discussion naturally led to a deeper challenge: information is power, yet this power can only be harnessed if information is shared. This is why the topic of data sharing sparked some of the most interesting debates, as it is crucial for tax systems to be able to use third-party data to detect evasion and broaden the base. Several participants mentioned the challenges they have in their countries with sharing relevant data across governmental entities, with each department working in a silo of its own. Many imagined a future where tax administrations can be at the heart of government-wide data hubs, with information seamlessly shared by banks, telcos, customs, and more. With such systems, identifying under-declared income or suspicious transactions could become almost automatic.
However, technology alone is not the solution. As discussions made clear, what matters is the fairness and rights-based use of technology in taxation. Taxation is, after all, the ultimate social contract as citizens pay not just because they are compelled, but because they believe the system is fair and that revenues will be used responsibly. DPI reforms, if well designed and carefully implemented, have the potential to strengthen the relationship between citizens and the state by reducing opportunities for discretion and corruption, lowering compliance costs, and making interactions smoother. As ICTD’s Research Fellow, Daisy Ogembo said, “We need to put principles before platforms” because technology alone is not enough, legal frameworks must be strengthened, data privacy guaranteed, and governance structures designed to protect citizens. Above all, reforms must be citizen centric. Without public trust, even the most technically advanced is bound to fail.
By the end of the conference, it became clear that digital IDs, digital payments, and data exchange systems are already shaping the fiscal landscape and have the potential to reshape it even more. Yet the work ahead requires more than plugging in new technologies. It demands thoughtfully designed reforms, iterative trust building, and strong legal and governance frameworks. In the words of one participant, “nothing is more important than understanding context, realities, and responsibilities.”
The ATRN meetings showed that the future of taxation in Africa will not only be written in legislation and policy papers, but also coded through databases, IDs, and interoperable systems. DPI, if developed appropriately, is set to become the backbone of Africa’s tax systems in the decades to come. Tax, in turn, offers a unique opportunity to demonstrate how DPI can be designed and governed to uphold public trust, and in line with our host countries’ G20 presidency, contribute to advancing more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable societies. At ICTD, we are looking forward to contributing to these ends through rigorous research and meaningful collaborations with tax authorities, policy makers, and any other actors in the region.
